Star Wars: Templars
by DarthTrekkie2016
Summary: The Galaxy is split down the middle, though the Sith Empire and the Republic sit in a stalemate. Padawan Rollin Win-Karri begins stumbling upon echoes of an ancient order, and finds himself coming face to face with a strange group and new perceptions of the Force and his order. AU


Star Wars: Templars

Chapter I

Echoes

"Breath deep, Rollin. Let your consciousness leave you, just for a moment. Remind yourself that you're safe here. Feel the eb and flow of the planet around you. Allow every vine to take you further, every tree to lift you higher from where you now sit."

Rollin stilled himself, best as he could, upon the flat rock. Occasionally he could feel the warmth of the sun broken by a passing asteroid. "But master, why here? So many worlds in the galaxy, and you choose D'Qar?"

He could feel master Hol moving behind him. "D'Qar is… This is a quiet world, padawan, yet it teems with life. It is important you feel the presence of the living Force, but I wouldn't wish your first explorations to include others' minds. Here, you can see through the eyes of bird and bug, without worrying about the thoughts of the impure."

Sighing, Rollin relaxed his shoulders. Reach out, feel the Force. It's there, binding and coursing through all life. Now he just needed to follow it.

A cool breeze blew across the sky, and the leaves shook, each moving on its own way, but in tangent with the others. Above, a flock rode the current, following no leader but united in direction.

Rollin felt his master's hand on his shoulder, and heard his voice, but it was distant, soft. "Good Rollin. Realize that the Force is more than what you can command or feel with just your own vessel. All around us, the galaxy moves and breathes."

Through the roots, up the trees, stirring the creatures that rested in the morning hours. Even in the air around him. All was bound by -

His eyes snapped open, and he found his gaze matched his master's already. Thundering and crackling through the sky was a ship, engulfed in flame. But then… Nothing. The blue was open and unbroken.

"Master?"

Master Hol studied the horizon. "Curious…" He closed his eyes a moment, nodding gently to himself. "Yes, I suppose…" He smiled, still holding Rollin's shoulder. "I do believe, Rollin, that you have uncovered quite the talent. This planet has indeed been alone and quiet for some time now. That was an echo, memories carried by the Force itself. I imagine the powerful emotions of whoever was on that ship left quite the impact on this peaceful world."

Rollin rose from the stone. "I… I see. So that was a vision of the past?"

His master nodded. "Of a sort. The clarity of an echo can be uncertain, but so striking an image cannot be ignored."

He could already feel his heart racing. His eyes darted along the treeline, trying to work out where they might have crashed. "Master, I… I think I should find that ship."

"Oh? My padawan, the crash has already happened. I doubt much of anything remains."

He knew this, but Rollin still couldn't tear himself away. "But master, surely you feel it too?"

Another moment of thoughtful silence. "I brought you hear so that you may explore your connection to the Force. If you feel it calling you, follow it."

He was already stepping down the hill when he felt a gentle pull holding him back. "Padawan. It would be unwise to leave without this." He turned to see his master offering him his lightsaber. He forgot master Hol had taken it, since he was trying to get Rollin to focus more solely on the Force. Rollin extended his hand and the weapon drifted between them.

"Are you sure you won't come, master?" Rollin hooked the lightsaber to his belt.

His master sat where he had been. "I am content to await your return, Rollin. D'Qar is hardly a dangerous world. I have trained you well, and your dedication to swordplay outmatches me already. Go with the Force now."

Smiling wholeheartedly, Rollin slid down the slope of mud and grass. The air ran cool through his hair, and his cloak flowed behind him. He'd have to wipe the dirt and bugs from his armor when they returned to the shuttle. But those were worries for later. For now, he excitedly leapt from the slope and tore into the jungle.

Despite the thick canopy and walls of trees, the morning light shone joyously through the green. Whatever his master believed, this is where Rollin felt most in tune with the galaxy.

Eventually, Rollin did allow himself to slow to a jog. Working through the foliage was slow going, and he still wasn't entirely sure where this ship had come down. _Easy now, Rollin. Feel the eb and flow, right? Let your mind travel through the Force._ The vines covered a good deal of the planet. Greenery clambered up the trees, wound over rocks and dipped into creeks. Both the water and the green covered the dirt… There! Harsh, smooth slants, warm in the light of the morning.

He opened his eyes and continued with his normal senses. A lizard skittered away as he leapt over a fallen log. Something his eyes could see now that he hadn't felt, those rocks were more of a cliff. In hardly a moment, he leapt up the rock face, the Force helping to lift him with every jump.

As he climbed over the edge, he found what he'd gone after. Indeed, the ship falling from the sky had been an echo. A distant one, at that. The metal was entirely overgrown, and the dirt even cradled it as though it had always sat here. Rollin lit his lightsaber, the humming green light leaping from the hilt. In a single swing, he hacked a clump of vines from the metal. It looked like this once was a door, but it certainly wouldn't open now.

He dug the blade through the alloy, slowly carving a new entrance into the vessel. After a minute of carving and a gentle push, Rollin slipped through the wall and into the ship. Instantly, the air felt different. There was a thickness to it. Rollin grasped his head in response to the unusual new feeling. This whole ship felt otherworldly.

Surely his master would regret not coming with him now. They had traveled much of the galaxy during Rollin's training. He had gotten the chance to feel very strongly both the dark and the light side of the Force. But this… He felt a different presence altogether here.

The darkness was lit by the green of his saber as he continued to delve deeper. Someone must have found this ship some time ago, there were racks that once might have held all sorts of relics. How long ago must this craft fallen? There were skeletons littering the floors, or whatever was left of them. Halves of skulls, hands missing bony fingers.

Who were these people? Rollin couldn't feel much from any of them. Not at first, anyway. But soon, the pull he'd felt by his master's side returned. There. Further down this corridor, through this stuck-open door.

As soon as Rollin stepped through into the room, he could feel the same shift as when the falling ship interrupted his meditation. "The cycle… see it now… reach the Jedi… must reunite the order!"

A distant voice reached Rollin's ear, or… Was it in his head? Though he could make out some of the words, the whole statement was lost on him. Similarly, there was no vision to accompany the noise. What was this?

"The Sith?! How did… laser fire at starboard! Fire… word to the Harbingers, we've… cannot win. I am the Force."

Rollin, despite his confusion, smiled to himself. Who had this been? Talk of the Jedi and Sith, something about reuniting the order and… A cycle? Perhaps the echo was of an ancient Jedi himself, considering it sounded like the Sith had attacked them. Such an isolated piece of history, lost in the jungles of this remote planet.

Danger. Confusion, hate, and a twinge of fear. Rollin spun around, the hum of his lightsaber joined suddenly by the sound of another blazing to life. On the other end of the room, a figure clad in a black hooded robe draped over scraps of dirtied chrome armor stood, silhouetted by a flickering orange light.

Rollin lowered his stance a little. Orange? That didn't seem right. This stranger… Their presence felt unusual. They were very much like a Sith. They certainly dressed the part. But… He had been in fights with the Sith before, felt that unbridled emotion that could broadcast itself over the fields of battle. This figure was far more subdued.

"Who are you? Friend or foe?"

The stranger brought their saber forward from behind them, illuminating their face more clearly. A human woman stared intently at him. "That entirely depends upon you, Jedi. You are Jedi, I presume?"

Rollin stood a bit taller. "I am. What are you then?"

She chuckled softly to herself. "An interesting question. Unfortunately, one I don't have an answer for yet…" She stepped forward, and Rollin stepped back. "What brings you to this place, Jedi? Something of value your order find on D'Qar?"

"My order? So, a Sith then? Or someone trying to get in with them. No. I -"

"If I were Sith, you'd be dead by now."

He stepped closer to the door. While he knew better than to fall for that, she did have something of a point. Most Sith wouldn't let a Jedi get a word out before at least attacking. Still… Telling her why he had come would be a bad idea.

"You felt it as well, didn't you Jedi?" She lowered her blade, looking around the room. "The Force, trying to make these souls' last words heard. What did you hear in the echoes? I wonder…"

She breathed deep, closing her eyes. Part of him, the part that had trained all his life to perfect the lightsaber, screamed at him to strike. After all, she was no Jedi, she had made that clear herself. Whatever she was, she was a Force user and armed, and might kill him the second he made to leave. Another part urged him to stay his hand. Let her hear as he had. What harm could it do?

Eventually, she shook her head. "Damn… Too far gone. Guess we'll both leave disappointed."

Without a second more, her lightsaber died, and she turned to a hole in the ceiling Rollin could have sworn was not there originally. "You can tell your order that this ship was some smuggler's vessel. Nothing to find."

"Wait!" Why had he stopped her? Well, he had. And she had stopped. She looked at him confused, and Rollin couldn't stop himself. "You didn't hear them?"

Her eyes widened. "You could?" The two stood in the quiet, the hum of Rollin's blade keeping back the silence. "Well… What did you hear?"

Well, he'd gone this far. "Honestly, not much. Whoever these people were, they were attacked by the Sith. They were saying something about a cycle, and reuniting the order. Not much else."

The woman drew closer, and Rollin raised his saber. She sighed, but raised her hands. "Alright, easy kid. But that's it? Nothing else?"

"Well… He did say something weird. Something about not being able to win, and then 'I am the Force'. Whatever that means."

Her wide eyes and smile returned. "I am the Force? Those exact words? You're sure of it?" As he nodded, she sighed and looked around. "So this is where you came to rest… Damn." She nodded to Rollin. "Thank you, Jedi. I suppose you've been useful. So, take my advice." She relit her blade, and in her other hand, another joined it. From the corners of the room, two more figures lit blades of their own. The room was drenched in red and orange light. "Run."

* * *

Erlo Hol's Republic shuttle drifted down into the skyline traffic of Coruscant. Their escort had been very accommodating to his many detours. But their latest stop had required an immediate return to the temple, and a discussion with the council. Erlo scratched just beneath his horn again, having been irritable the entirety of the flight after D'Qar.

He had been overly confident. No matter what the Force had told him, he should not have let Rollin alone to traverse the wreckage. The boy's talents were undeniable, but he was still fresh, hardly tested. The echoes themselves were confusing, and warranted further investigation. But more concerning were the figures that had threatened his padawan. It was possible they were Sith, but why take an interest in a vessel their own order shot down? More confusing, why would a Sith cling to an old Jedi blade, as the first had?

There were far too many questions, far too many uncertainties. But as far as Erlo was concerned, one was more important than any other: Why hadn't he sensed them? Why hadn't Rollin been able to sense them? The boy could tell when someone new had entered the temple, but couldn't pick up these assailants. That in itself was concerning.

Perhaps there had been a presence. But it hadn't felt like a Sith, or the Dark Jedi. Curious…

The door to his chamber slid open. Erlo wasn't surprised when Rollin stepped in and sat beside him. The two were still for a moment, a comfortable and familiar silence. But it only lasted a moment. "Master… What do you think it meant? The voice I heard. I had thought it was a Jedi, but the more I think about it… Do you know anything about a cycle, master?"

"Mmm… I can think of no cycles involving the Jedi. But I'm sure I know where to begin looking. I want you to resume your meditations when we return to the temple. I will bring our findings to the council, and look through the archives for any knowledge."

Erlo opened his eyes, watching his apprentice as he gazed out into the city. "You worry too much, padawan. Remember, find your peace. Fear will only lead to destruction."

"Of course, master." The two returned to their closed eyes, and steady breaths.


End file.
